Golf might be popular for being the gentlemen’s sport but when you have a prize to chase and opponents to defeat, temper might get the best of you. Today we will be looking at the top 10 biggest temper tantrums by golfers of all time. From controversial moves, breaking clubs to downright arguments.
10. Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson was definitely not happy when a photographer clicked his backswing at the 2016 British Open Championship. Mickelson was on the 18th hole of the third round.
The click of the shutter distracted the golfer as he wound up the shot. Mickelson was visibly irritated with what had happened and he wasn’t shy about expressing that.
He said to the camera person, “That’s so sh— to do that,” he added, “I can’t believe that. I get you gotta cover (the event), but why do you gotta interfere with it?” His shot ended up in the bunker, adding extra frustration to the already irritated golfer.
He had surrendered the lead to Henrik Stenson with a bogey on the previous hole. Mickelson was able to recover and made par on 18 but was behind Stenson by a stroke at the end of the day.
9. Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy let frustration get the best of him when he threw his 3 wood into the ground. The impact caused the head to snap off the shaft.
He was on the par-5 16th hole of The Open and a wayward shot made him lose his calm and he slammed the club in anger. Talking about it, McIlroy said, “The club head came loose on it earlier on the week.
I had to get the head re-glued. So it was probably partly to do with that and partly the throw as well. I’ll get it reshafted tonight. The truck’s here, so I’ll have it reshafted, and all will be well in the morning.”
McIlroy began the tournament with rounds of 69 and 71. He was already 11 shots behind the leaders Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson at the time he broke his club.
8. Victor Dubuisson
At number 8 on our list we have Victor Dubuisson’s meltdown at the Cadillac Championship. This meltdown came as a shocker to many. He had finished at a pretty good spot and his score didn’t seem all that bad either.
But after he finished, a clearly frustrated Dubuisson was seen kicking his golf bag to express his anger. He shot a 72, which is considered a pretty good score.
But in anger, he destroyed one of his clubs and kicked his golf bag. Maybe Dubuisson was just disappointed with the difficult Doral course. It is funny to see that his caddy doesn’t respond to his meltdown.
After the video of his meltdown went viral on twitter, pro golfer Justin Thomas pointed out how the Doral course can be both difficult as well as a course where you can post a good score.
7. Bubba Watson
Bubba Watson might be well-known for his drives but his tantrums seem to be outshining his performance. During the final round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Watson and the PGA officials were left scratching their heads after something unthinkable happened.
At the par-5 fifth hole, Watson’s ball landed on top of an anthill and the golfer wanted relief. He also wondered if it was red ants he was dealing with.
Watson and a PGA Tour official discussed the particulars of this ant hill and had to figure out whether an ant is an animal and if it is a burrowing creature.
Watson classified ants as animals whereas the official instructed him that ants aren’t classified as “a burrowing animal.” To tackle that, Watson retaliated with the argument that ants are “tunneling-making” creatures.
The official finally ruled that Watson would have to play the shot with no relief with the ant hill being considered a loose impediment.
6. John Daly
At the 2011 Australian Open John Daly walked off the tournament without even completing the first round. It was probably one of the most embarrassing exits in his career.
Daly was a two-time major winner at the tournament when he quit after hitting six balls, yeah you heard that correct six balls, into the water from the 11th tee at The Lakes Golf Club.
He then shook hands with his playing partner Craig Parry and walked off the course. However, it wasn’t his constant shots falling into water that caught everyone’s attention, it was his untimely quitting that ticked every one off.
“I’m extremely bitter and disappointed. It’s becoming a bit of a habit,” Daly said while leaving the tournament. Later, he tweeted, “When you run out of balls, you run out of balls.
Yes I shook my playing partner’s hands and signed my card with [the] rules official.” Running out of golf balls was no excuse to quit in the middle of a round.
5. Jessica Korda
In fifth place we have Jessica Korda who decided she had had enough with her caddie and fired him mid tournament at the 2013 US Women’s Open.
She turned to her boyfriend Johnny DelPrete and said, “Johnny, grab the bag, let’s go.” The 20-year-old golfer fired her caddie midway through the third round.
She had many disagreements with her caddie Jason Gilroyed over the first nine holes at the tournament. No matter how controversial it is to fire a caddie mid-way, the move seemed to work in Korda’s favour.
After shooting 5 over on the front nine, she was 1 under the rest of the way. Korda was able to finish with a 76 and was tied for sixth at 1 over, 11 strokes behind leader Inbee Park.
When asked about Jason Gilroyed, she told ESPN, “I care about Jason a lot. He is a great guy. That’s just how it happens sometimes in life. That was one of those things today that it just unfolded. It was very hard for me to do. I’m not that type of person to take these things really easily.”
4. Sergio Garcia
Sergio Garcia’s temper tantrum shocked the golf world at the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia. Garcia’s par-5 4th hole shot landed in a bunker and he was angered when he found the lie his ball was in.
He had attempted to reach the green in two attempts but the shot in front of him looked far from that. Garcia was displeased at the lie and blamed the way that sand had been raked by the previous group.
He failed to clear the bunker and Garcia was left with a tough up-and-down for par, which he ultimately achieved. But things took an ugly turn when his rage boiled over.
After playing the second bunker shot, Garcia took three aggressive swipes at the sand and swept the ground violently with his wedge. A day later, Garcia was disqualified by the Saudi International for ‘serious misconduct’ after an unprecedented incident. As he had damaged five greens!
3. Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jiminez
At the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park both Bradley and Jiminez had already been eliminated from group play and were just playing out their final match as a formality.
Despite that, the two got into a heated argument. It all started when Jimenez supposedly reminded Bradley that he needed to take two club lengths before dropping his ball for relief on the 18th hole.
That didn’t go down well with Bradley and his caddie. Jiminez told the caddie to shut up and he shouted back “Do not tell me to shut up!”. Bradley got in and said “Don’t tell him to shut up!” While talking about the incident, Bradley later clarified that it was just in the heat-of-the-moment thing.
““It was disappointing. I’m pretty bummed out about it. It was just … I had a ruling and he felt like he needed to intervene and I felt like he was being inappropriate to me and my caddie,” Bradley said.
2. Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson is known as one of the best golf players in the world today so when he intentionally hit a moving ball, it shocked fans and critics alike.
At the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson hit a moving ball on the 13th hole to stop it from racing off the green. He had to face a penalty of 2 shots under Rule 14-5.
When asked about it later, Mickelson said that he intentionally made the shot even after knowing the penalty. He stated that he’d rather take the penalty than play ping-pong around the green.
It was considered a serious breach of golf etiquette. He could have been disqualified for this misconduct but the fact that he didn’t stop the ball or deflect it, saved him. He had simply played a moving ball. It became one of the most controversial shots in his career.
1. Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy seemed like he was under some serious stress at the 2015 Cadillac Championship. He pulled his approach shot at the par 5 8th straight into the lake. Many golfers have faced the misfortune of landing their ball in the water but McIlroy’s case was different.
He didn’t just shoot his ball into the water but also sent his 3-iron for a dive as well. Later he stated, “It felt good at the time but now I regret it. Frustration got the better of me.
Following on from last week, I feel like it’s very close and to hit shots like that you get frustrated, but I shouldn’t have done what I did.” Lucky for McIlroy, course owner Donald Trump sent a scuba diver to retrieve the club.
Which one do you think was the biggest tantrum? Did we miss any?
